Characters of Smallville

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This article contains character biographies of the American drama action/adventure/sci-fi television series Smallville.

Contents

[edit] Regular cast

[edit] Recurring and significant characters

[edit] Main character analysis

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[edit] Clark Kent

Clark Kent (Tom Welling) is the central character. The sole survivor of the destruction of the planet Krypton, he came to Smallville (and Earth) during the meteor shower of 1989. At the outset of the show, Clark is a fourteen-year-old freshman at Smallville High just learning of his true origins, and deeply troubled by that knowledge. The stories of Smallville center on Clark, his acceptance of his powers, his role in society and his relationships with others, most importantly Lex Luthor and Lana Lang. He does this with the support of his parents.

Clark's mystique and notorious habit of being the hero makes him a busy, and conflicted teen. He is often torn between his feelings for Lana and the need to protect her from the truth. His need to conceal his identity also frequently puts him at odds with his best friend, Lex. Chloe Sullivan, his partner at the school newspaper, has feelings for him that she disguises with friendship.

Clark has a huge heart and wants to develop a relationship with the girl he has been in love since more than 7 years, Lana. Unfortunately, his powers do not allow him to be completely honest with the ones that he loves. In order to prevent media exposure, Clark always has to take care when using his powers. Initially, the only people he speaks of his powers with are his mother and father. He eventually also tells his girlfriend, Alicia Baker and his best friend Pete Ross. Later, a foster brother, Ryan James, and Chloe also discover his powers. Several others also stumble upon his secret, but always forget, die or disappear. He hopes that someday he can openly share the secret of his powers with those around him, but it seems unlikely to happen.

Clark has been able to communicate with his biological father Jor-El through the spaceship that brought him to Earth and, after its destruction, the caves whose Native American paintings seem to tell the story of his past and future. Incidentally, the caves have also enabled Clark to learn to read his native Kryptonian language. Clark resents Jor-El for attempting to manipulate him into using his powers to one day conquer the world. During the summer before his senior year, Clark was kidnapped by his father, brainwashed, and returned as the emotionless and obedient Kryptonian Kal-El. His true identity was restored through Martha's intervention with black kryptonite.

Apart from his powers and incessant heroism, Clark is a normal teenage boy just hoping to make it through the rest of the day. He gladly helps his parents out on the farm and even makes the difficult decision to commute to college so that Jonathan (who has health problems due to his own dealings with Jor-El) won't have to run the farm alone. Clark works as a reporter for the Smallville High newspaper (The Torch) for four years; he tries out for the football team his senior year and very quickly becomes captain despite his rookie status. His favorite place to hang out is the loft in his family's barn, which his father has nicknamed the Fortress of Solitude (a reference to Superman's future sanctuary in the North Pole). In the future, he will become Superman, the greatest hero of the world.

[edit] Lana Lang

Formerly the girl-next-door, Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) was the love of Clark’s life. She also has feelings for Clark. Unfortunately, every day that Clark does not share his secret with Lana is a day in which they grow further apart. She is free-spirited and has a love for horseback riding. Aside from being an equestrian, she was also a gymnast (until she graduates high school) and in the first two episodes of the series she was a cheerleader, but quit in the third episode "Hothead". While she was in high school, she was part of several clubs including: French, Art, Math, and Poetry. She volunteers at the Smallville Nursing Home; her cheerleading squad took first place at summer camp; she has taken home many ribbons for equestrianism in 4-H. Despite her numerous extracurricular activities, Lana also managed and was partial owner (partners with Lex Luthor) of the Talon (from season 1 to season 3); a restored movie theater turned Egyptian-themed coffee shop. The Talon is the local teenage hotspot due to “Smallville’s Best Cappuccino” and the occasional live band.

Regardless of her actively involved character, Lana cannot hide the pain in her heart. She lost her parents during the meteor shower and is trying to discover herself, with only the guidance of her Aunt Nell. Lana wore a lucky charm around her neck, which is made from the meteor that killed her parents (kryptonite). She continues to struggle with her relationship with Clark, as she is deeply conflicted by "not knowing the whole man".

She has been in a relationship with Clark several times, but they always end up breaking up. In the fifth season, Clark loses his powers (for a period of time) and subsequently Clark and Lana renew their relationship, which becomes more serious and in the second episode of the season "Mortal" when they lose their virginity to one another.

After this she begins a relationship with Lex which is still continuing on into the sixth season.

At the end of the episode Rage, Lana tells Chloe that she's pregnant.

[edit] Lex Luthor

At the show's beginning, Alexander (Lex) Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) is a spoiled, angry, genius and extremely rich 21-year-old. His father, billionaire Lionel Luthor, has not had time for his son, and his mother is deceased. Lex lost his hair at the age of 9 during the meteor shower of 1989 in Smallville. At that time he was a self-described "brat", and his behavior only grew worse as he got older. If not for his father's considerable influence, he would have been expelled from his English private school, Excelsior. Growing up alone, Lex is an extremely bitter man.

Lex has been expelled from college and, to his horror, has not been invited to help run his father's corporation, but instead assigned to a small fertilizer factory in Smallville. A seminal event occurs when Lex hits Clark with his car and Clark saves his life. Following the accident (and a resultant near-death experience), Lex forges a friendship with Clark, believing they are meant to be friends. They grow very close and Lex even grew jealous of Clark because Clark and his family loves each other and they are very close while Lionel does not even show a hint of love to Lex. Lex expresses willingness to trade what he has for Clark's life. But Lex is cursed by an overwhelming curiosity, things start to take a turn as Lex digs deeper and deeper into the mysteries of Clark and his family. Additionally, he grows to distrust Clark as Clark repeatedly lies to cover his true identity. Their personal interests are at odds, and began to erode at their friendship. Their bond is critically damaged in Season Three, when Clark discovers Lex has an entire room devoted to peculiarities relating to Clark.

Lionel has raised Lex to be distrusting and conniving, and his lessons don't end with adulthood. His extreme cruelty and inhumane actions cause Lex to grow paranoid of his surroundings, especially of anything that could be related to his father. Their relationship comes to a head in Season Three when Lex discovers his father is a murderer, and has him imprisoned. In the fourth season, Lex becomes consumed with trying to find the three stones that, when brought together, are reputed to release the knowledge of the universe. The search for these stones further destroys his relationship with Clark and his father, and pushes him further to the dark side. Season four also gives subtle hints that Lex has developed feelings about Lana, which may be integral to his eventual fall from grace. During Q&A's with the show's creators, they have revealed that Bruce Wayne went to boarding school with Lex Luthor. Whether this will ever incorporate itself in the show remains to be seen, due to legal issues with Warner Brothers.

As of the fifth season, Lex has become more and more obsessed with power, showing more signs of the man he will be. Lex has moved his company from agriculture to secretly developing weapons for the government. One such weapon, Leviathan, caught the attention of A.C. Curry (Aquaman). When Lex discovered that A.C. was sabotaging his weapon, he captured him and left him to die strapped to a table, only surviving through the actions of Clark. Lex has also decided to run for state senate in his quest for more power, only opposed by Jonathan Kent. Even Lionel himself is worried of what his son will become if given a taste of power. Lex's last vestige of goodness was destroyed in the episode, Lexmas, where Lex sees a possible future where he has forsaken his father's legacy and his thirst for power to grow a family with Lana. At first, he is happy, but when Lana dies in front of him while he is powerless to stop it, Lex rejects love for power. Lex has now decided that he'd rather use power to keep Lana alive than watch her die as her husband. To this end, Lex is now determined to use any means to become powerful, even developing lies about Jonathan Kent to win state senate.

Lex was angry when he lost the election to Jonathan and resulted to drinking that nearly caused Lana to die in a car accident. However, she was secretly saved by Clark. His dream then began to become true as Lana became closer and closer to him. However, his cruel and dark plans remained. He had secretly transformed the nearly killed Victor Stone into a half man, half machine being with his technology and intended to have his memories erased. However Victor escaped. He also hired a girl named Simone, who used her hypnotic necklace to turn Clark against Lana and to find out his secret. He also tried to find a vaccine to the viruses that Milton Fine, who he made an alliance with, had brought in from several parts of the world. However he discovered that Milton was truly an alien, and was injected with the vaccine, which gave him healing abilities. He was then taken into Fine's space ship and turned into a Kryptonian by him. He showed these abilities to Lana, and then fought against Clark in his farm. It was there, Clark opened the portal to the Phantom Zone, and Lex became a vessel to the powerful Kryptonian General, Zod. Zod claimed that Lex was dead, but this is most likely a lie. Zod managed to trap Clark into the Phantom Zone for revenge after his jailer's son refused to join him, and was last seen staring over a chaotic Metropolis.

[edit] Chloe Sullivan

Young journalist and investigative reporter extraordinaire, Chloe Sullivan has a knack for getting to the truth. She is reporter and editor at The Torch, the Smallville High School newspaper. She also maintains "Wall of the Weird," on which she posts articles and theories concerning the often bizarre and eerie events that take place in Smallville, many of which are related to the effects of the meteor rocks (aka kryptonite). For Chloe, getting to the truth sometimes means getting herself in trouble. She has often gotten into muddy water with prominent people such as Lionel Luthor.

Chloe was born in Metropolis and moved to Smallville with her family when her father began work at LuthorCorp. Her mother abandoned the family at a young age (it was later revealed that her mother suffered from mental illness or insanity). Chloe first met Clark in the 8th grade when she moved to Smallville, and Clark was asked to show her around the school. Chloe's close friends are Clark, Pete, and Lana. Chloe developed a crush on Clark and they attended a school dance together, the pictures of which she often fawns over. Chloe's crush was shattered when she witnessed Clark and Lana embracing in Clark's loft. Needless to say, this has strained Lana and Chloe's friendship.

During the fourth season, Chloe finds out about Clark’s powers through his girlfriend Alicia. Her assumption is that his powers come from the meteor rocks like many other Smallville teens. She decides not to reveal her knowledge to Clark out of the hope that he will one day trust her enough to tell her himself. It was also revealed in the fourth season that Chloe lost her virginity to a guy named Jimmy. This was ultimately revealed to be Jimmy Olsen.

[edit] Pete Ross

Pete Ross plays football and golf, and participates in several clubs (Agriculture, Chess, Journalism, Key Club, and Math). Pete's mother is a judge in Smallville.

Pete is Clark’s best friend in their childhood and high school years. Clark revealed his powers to Pete, after he discovered the spacecraft in a field after it flew out of the Kent's storm cellar during the tornado. Clark finds great relief in having a peer to confide in about his powers. At times Pete feels overshadowed by Clark, and is jealous of the developing friendship between Clark and Lex Luthor.

After getting beat up by Federal Agents working with Lex, Pete moves to Wichita, Kansas, with his Mother, who got a Federal Judgeship there towards the end of the 3rd season.

[edit] Martha Kent

The adoptive mother of Clark Kent and wife of Jonathan Kent, Martha is usually portrayed as a kind and caring parent. She helped to instill strong morals within Clark. She, with her husband, ran Kent Organic Produce. Re-establishing herself as an educated individual, she worked briefly as assistant to Lionel Luthor and, during Season Four, she also became the manager of the Talon.

She has a poor relationship with her father, as he didn't support her marriage to Jonathan. She also didn't trust her father with Clark's secret. She became pregnant in Season Two, when she was cured from infertility by Clark's ship; However, she lost the baby as the blast from the destroyed ship struck her vehicle. With the death of Jonathan, Martha has accepted her late husband's seat as Senator. This, has also grabbed the attention of Lionel Luthor, who has shown himself to be fond of Martha.

[edit] Jimmy Olsen

Photographer at the Daily Planet. He was first mentioned in season four, when Chloe Sullivan mentioned having lost her virginity to him. The pair met up again at the beginning of season six (which marked the first time that Jimmy appeared on-screen) and have begun a relationship.

[edit] Jonathan Kent

The adoptive father of Clark Kent and husband of Martha Kent, Jonathan is usually portrayed as strong, supportive, and caring, though he is sometimes stubborn. He, with his wife, runs Kent Organic Produce, and he and Martha are responsible for instilling strong morals in Clark. He is portrayed as the epitome of a wise country gentleman, making him the perfect father for an American legend. He and Clark are very close.

He was born in 1961 to Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Kent. He was a football hero in high school (Smallville High) and dated Nell Potter. He has lived in Smallville all of his life. He has heart trouble as a result of being given temporary powers by Jor-El. He is occasionally jealous of Jor-El and deeply suspicious of the Luthors. In the series 100th episode, Jonathan's heart gives out as he quarrels with Lionel Luthor. This was after Clark appealed to Jor-El and re-lived a day in which he originally divulged his secret to Lana Lang, and she was later killed in a tragic car accident. The second chance given by Jor-El, had Jonathan uninterrupted by Lana's accident so he proceeded to meet Lionel, leading to their argument and his subsequent death.

[edit] Lionel Luthor

Famous billionaire and founder of LuthorCorp, Lionel Luthor is credited with bringing out the worst in his son, Lex, and could be considered to be (at times) the major villain of the series. He is briefly blinded in Season Two, in which he may have "seen" Clark Kent's powers. Lionel spends the majority of his time nosing around Lex's affairs, and it is in this fashion that he was alerted to the "mystery of Clark Kent". At one point Lionel believed that he could save himself from a terminal disease by way of Clark Kent or the Caves. This eventually happens inadvertently during his time in prison. Lionel emerges from jail a "saved" man, until Lex (or rather, his kryptonite-created evil twin) helps his father remember just how bad he really is. Lionel gets his hands on one of the Kryptonian stones, and is sent into a catatonic state (becoming a vessel of Kryptonian knowledge) which also allows for Jor-El to take over his body seemingly at will.

[edit] Whitney Fordman

Whitney Fordman is one of the main characters during the first season. He is Clark's rival, in athletics, academics, and Lana's affections. A typical jock, Whitney is involved in football, basketball, baseball, and track. At the end of Season One, he joined the Marines, and a Season Two episode reveals that he was killed in action.

[edit] Lois Lane

Lois Lane (Erica Durance) is introduced at the very beginning of season four as Chloe's cousin. Clark and Lois are forced to work together as they seek out the true fate of Chloe, who apparently died at the end of the third season. Chloe did not die and Lois did not take her place, but instead became a recurring character on the show. There are many scenes that allude to the iconic relationship from other incarnations of Superman. She recently played a large role in the senatorial campaign of Jonathan Kent and now works with Martha Kent (the current senator.) Lois and Clark constantly annoy each other.

[edit] Jason Teague

Jason Teague appears as a main character in the fourth season. He was Lana’s boyfriend in Paris and moved to Smallville, unannounced, so he could continue his relationship with Lana. Positioning himself closer into Lana's life, he was hired as an assistant football coach for Smallville High. However, he was fired from this position when Lex Luthor discovered his relationship with Lana and reported it to the school's administrator. The unexpected visit of Jason's mother and Lana’s provoking ancestral spirit, prompted a journey that entangled him and Lana to search for the sacred stones of power. By his mother's manipulation, he became corrupted in his journey. In the Season 4 Finale, Jason and his mother were killed. Though a second meteor shower hit Smallville and pummeled the Kent's house that Jason was in, it is suspected that Lex ensured that Jason would not come out alive. This concept may be considered by the note on the newspaper pertaining to the "Socialite and son killed" article that Lana Lang was reviewing in the Season Five Premiere.

[edit] Minor Character Analysis

[edit] Dr. Virgil Swann

Doctor Virgil Swann was a famed astronomer and founder of a pioneering space communications firm. For his efforts, he was dubbed "the Man of Tomorrow" during his time. He was one of the only humans on Earth who was capable of translating Kryptonian script and who aware of the existence of Clark Kent/Kal-El's homeworld. Choosing to keep this information to himself, he summoned Clark to his mansion in New York and informed him of his true origins. When Lionel Luthor became aware of their correspondence, he tried to bribe Swann for the information he had on Clark in exchange for unfettered access to the Kawche Caves (which were believed to house alien relics). When Clark discovered this, he sped to Swann's home to confront him, but Swann assured him that his arrangement with Luthor was in Clark's best interest. He died off-camera in Season 4, sending an envelope containing a kryptonian key to Clark shortly before. Swann was played by late Superman movie star Christopher Reeve.

[edit] Jor-El

Existing only in spirit and will, Jor-El has had a major influence in Clark's actions as the series progresses. He speaks, at first, through the ship that Clark arrived in. Then, he would speak to Clark from the walls of the Kawatche caves. It was believed by Clark for sometime that Jor-El wanted him to rule and conquer the Earth. At the end of Season Two, this belief led Clark to destroy the ship, causing his mother to have a miscarriage. Jor-El then granted Jonathan Kent temporary superpowers to retrieve Clark from his red-K induced escape into Metropolis. This is what caused Jonathan's heart problems as time went on. To do this Jonathan had made a covenant with Jor-El to allow him to take Clark. When Jor-El came to collect, he reprogrammed Clark as a stoic and obedient Kyrptonian. Earlier in Season 3 Lana shows Clark a newspaper article that shows an artist's sketch of someone who looks exactly like Clark and was wearing a necklace that has Kryptonian symbols on it. We learn later on in this episode that this is Jor-El and that he has a human side as he fell in love with Lana's Great Aunt, however, she was killed by Lauchlin Luthor, an ancestor of Luthor family. As season four begins, Jor-El releases the "reprogrammed" Kal-El/Clark to search for three powerful stones. Despite Jor-El's warnings, Clark allowed one of the stones to be touched by human blood, which "awakened a darkness from space" and caused the meteor shower in Season Four. Jor-El now communicates to Clark inside the Fortress of Solitude. Jor-El has the advantage of taking over Lionel Luthor's body and has saved Clark's life by doing so.

[edit] Milton Fine

When Clark failed to stop the stones from touching human blood, the result was a meteor shower on Smallville. Along with the shower, a spaceship containing two disciples of Zod landed on Earth. When the two were defeated by Clark, an A.I. composed of liquid metal emerged from the ship. The being assumed the alias Milton Fine and became a professor at Kansas Central University, the college Clark is attending. At first, Fine is depicted as a typical liberal, anti-corporate, intellectual who is writing an exposé on Luthorcorp with dubious intentions. After affecting Clark's mind with "silver kryptonite," Fine "saves" Clark from the hallucinations and shows himself as a fellow Kryptonian. This is done in order to manipulate him. It is later revealed that his amiability is a ruse, and that, in actuality, he is using Clark as a means to help free Zod from the Phantom Zone. He ultimately succeeds in this action at the end of season 5. He is based on Superman nemesis Brainiac.

Smallville
v • d • e
Episodes: Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 • Season 4 • Season 5 • Season 6
Characters
Clark Kent • Lana Lang • Lex Luthor • Chloe Sullivan
Lionel Luthor • Lois Lane • Jimmy Olsen • Martha Kent • Oliver Queen • Jonathan Kent
Pete Ross • Jason Teague • Whitney Fordman
Guest characters
Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 • Season 4 • Season 5 • Season 6
Related information
Smallville DVD releases • Media information • Kryptonite • Kryptonian Crystals
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